For kids in Colorado, health care is in jeopardy

Alejandra Borunda’s two kids are among those covered by CHP+ and who would lose out if the program goes away. (Photo: Helen H. Richardson/the Denver Post via Getty Images)

Colorado has become one of the first states to tell its residents to research private insurance plans in the event that the federal government fails to reinstate funding to CHIP, the joint state- and federal-government-funded program that provides health insurance for 9 million children from middle- and low-income families nationwide.

The state’s Department of Health Care Policy and Finance (HCPF) released a statement Nov. 27 announcing that it began sending a letter to families encouraging them to look into new health plans. The letter explains that federal funding for CHIP expired on Sept. 30. Colorado has state funds to cover the program costs only until Jan. 31, 2018. After that, families will have to pay for private plans should the government fail to renew.

“It is critically important for families to start planning for potential changes in their health coverage if the federal government doesn’t renew funding for the CHP+ program,” Gretchen Hammer, Colorado’s Department of Health Care Policy Medicaid Director, said in the press release. “We remain cautiously optimistic Congress will renew federal funding, but we want our families enrolled in CHP+ to be aware that changes may be coming and not be caught off guard should the program come to an end.”

“These are families, they’re not making a whole lot of money,” Marc Williams, Public Information Officer at Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “They make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but they make enough to qualify for CHIP program, because their employer may not provide health insurance.”

He said the loss of CHIP funding would “add an additional financial burden” on these families.

Joan Alker, executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University, agrees. She tells Yahoo Lifestyle that even the smallest lack of coverage in terms of time can have deep effects.

“Even a short period of no coverage is not good for kids’ health and it puts families at risk for financial risk,” she said. “As any parent knows, a kid can break a bone or need stitches any day of the week. If you’re uninsured, even for a short period, [it] can have a devastating effect on a family’s finances.”

Breaking news: Colorado announces that it has started sending letters out to CHIP families warning them that their coverage is in jeopardy. This is the first state I am aware of.https://t.co/OE70sKaddJ

“I’m optimistic Congress will get this done and that terrible outcome can be avoided, but really, it’s very unfortunate we’re having this conversation. This could have been an easy win for congress months ago, yet it’s still not done,” she said.

With CHIP’s fate in purgatory, the future of kids’ coverage remains more uncertain. Williams says the state has been in contact with representatives in Congress, but should the government fail to act, the department will send a letter at the end of December, around the holidays, officially announcing the end of CHIP coverage.

“We’re in a holding pattern until Congress decides what it’s going to do,” Williams tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “At the same time, we want to be proactive with our families so they can take measures to inform themselves.”

Alker says she believes there’s a lack of awareness with respect to how much it takes to run programs like these. But just because states have funding until the end of the year doesn’t mean it’s OK to delay the bill.

“There’s a lot more to it than that,” Alker says. “They can’t live on a promise. It’s not a good way to run government, to leave states with this level of uncertainty.”